Empty and Full
©June 22nd, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Empty is good
It can be filled to the brim.
Empty is beautiful
There’s something waiting outside.
Empty is hopeful
Things can take root and grow.
Empty is true
It cannot pretend to be anything else.
Empty is impossible
Even if all is removed, something lurks.
Today, I emptied my thoughts
Into self-watering planters,
And transplanted seedlings,
Humming a happy song.
So beautiful my seedlings looked,
Standing tall in good, brown earth
With cool water to suck thirstily,
And golden light to pull into veins!
Humming, I poured my thoughts in
With peat moss and rich, dark,
Organic potting soil, and sang
Softly to my little seedlings.
How they grow from nothing, almost
Into these strong, sun-veined plants!
How tall they stand, how rooted,
Calmly facing the rain and winds!
I see my daughter now, the same,
Born of my once-empty womb,
Growing tall, nurtured in song,
Brought up in the light of love.
I see her, kindness in her every
Gesture, goodness in every thought,
Translating confusion into sense,
As she grows sunwards, beautiful as light,
And my heart is full.
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